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The Digital Marketing Mentor Podcast

Get ready to get human! Digital marketing has a whole “people” side of things, and we’re here to uncover it! Danny Gavin, your Digital Marketing Mentor, explores the meeting point of mentorship and marketing in this captivating podcast featuring interviews with marketing experts and industry leaders.

As they chat about their history with mentorship and guiding others, they’ll delve into how these connections have affected their careers, marketing strategies, and lives. Deep conversations on how we’re all human highlight how current marketing trends are influenced, and you’ll come away from each episode with real, actionable marketing strategies and skills to implement. 

Choose an Episode Below! Also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube (VIDEO), Google Podcasts, and many more.

  • 036: Chaos to Coordination to COO – Building Digital Dream Teams in Remote Marketing Agencies with Leah Leaves (Office Hours)

    In this special Office Hours episode, Optidge’s own COO and resident expert in all things operations shares her three secrets to building high-performing teams in remote digital marketing agencies. From removing the stigma that surrounds independent contractors to extinguishing the fear of standardization (SOPs are a good thing!), Leah shares how to not only have cohesive remote teams rowing in the same direction, but create a culture of drive, efficiency, and top-notch client service. Whether you’re an agency owner or a team member looking to enhance your agency’s performance, this episode is packed with practical strategies and guidance to help your teams feel supported and successful.

  • 035: Pirouetting Her Way to Tech Founder with Mentorly’s Ashley Werhun

    Ashley Werhun is the co-founder of Mentorly. Her first career was as a professional dancer. Today, we discuss how she learned how important mentorship was through her performing career and how she used those lessons to build Mentorly. We also discuss some of the most important traits a mentor should have and more!

  • 034: Authenticity, Autonomy, and AI in Social Media and Marketing with Adele Beiny

    Adele Beiny is the founder and CEO of Life’s Looking Good, a lifestyle blog and social media presence, as well as a marketing consultancy. She wants to help people design and curate a life they love and brands they love to be. She’s traveled across the country through many tough industries and different occupations to find herself here today. We talk about being your authentic self on social media and how mentorship can look different to different people.

  • 033: College, Challenges, Careers, and Coaching with Shaina Keren

    Shaina Keren discovered her path in life, and it has led her to become a career coach. She’s a master at drawing out the best in people and discovering how to shape those skills into their career of choice. Her first decade of working life was spent in education, so she’s experienced changing directions at unexpected times. Listen in to learn more about her tips for personal discovery and resume fixes.

  • 032: ChatGPT Did NOT Write This Title – The Best of AI and ChatGPT with The Digital Marketing Mentor

    In this special episode of The Digital Marketing Mentor, we look back at the many conversations we’ve had with our guests around the topic of ChatGPT and AI. We discuss the teaching of it to students (and our own kids). We talk about the ethical and moral uses and limitations of such a tool. We also talk about why many of us believe this will not be taking any of our jobs any time soon.

  • 031: The Curtain Rises on Powerful Email Marketing with Emily Ryan

    Broadway? More like broadband! Emily Ryan is THE Mailchimp influencer. After moving past the dream of being big on Broadway, she became an executive assistant. When having a baby led to a dread of returning to office work, she struck out on her own and made herself the champion of Mailchimp Email Marketing. Learn more about her journey and how she mentors new mothers wanting to work from home in today’s episode!

  • 030: Breaking Down Biases, Boundaries, and Being Self-Confident w/ Maddie Deane (Office Hours)

    Today’s Office Hours episode focuses on the many ways stereotypes and unconscious biases can make their way into the workplace. Maddie Deane is a young woman in the digital marketing space, and she discusses her experiences with certain behaviors that seem to question her expertise based on her gender or perceived age. She also gives some great tips on how to counter some of those questions and how to show up better for your coworkers, employees, mentees, and more!

  • 029: Communications, Communes, Colorado, and Coaches with John Doherty

    John Doherty is the founder of Credo, an agency broker, and EditorNinja, a subscription-based professional editing services firm. He has traveled extensively and has currently found home in Colorado with his wife and daughter. In today’s episode, he discusses tiered business relationships, mentorship, entrepreneurship, editing, and sales tactics.

  • 028: Ready, Set, Storytelling with The Marketing Quarterback – Henry Adaso

    Henry Adaso is The Marketing Quarterback. In this episode, we discuss what a mentor is and why Henry didn’t have the broadest access to mentors when he was younger. We also discuss how storytelling and teamwork are the key pillars of marketing success in the digital marketing world. 

  • 027: Putting the People and Personality in Professoring and Publishing Marketing Content

    William (Bill) Zahn is a clinical professor at the University of Houston’s Bauer College of Business. He started teaching there five years after finishing his Ph.D. at the same institute. His former professors and department heads have mentored him, and he now mentors his students in the ways of storytelling in marketing and how writing will always need the human element.

  • 026: Sitemaps, Search Console, and SEO Content Quality – A Case Study on What Makes Successful SEO (Office Hours)

    Get ready to dive deep into a case study with a real Optidge client. Their website had more than 12,000 pages, but they were getting little organic traffic. That, coupled with a “Couldn’t Fetch” error for the sitemaps in Google Search Console, is what led Optidge down the rabbit hole that is “low-quality content” in SEO.

  • 025: How Do You Give Good AF Marketing, Mentoring, and Music Advice? It Depends. With Amalia Fowler

    Amalia learned through her education that there is no one path to success. For her, it started with a degree in psychology. It went on to include managing Google Ads, being a marketing director, and now, being a professor at her alma mater and running her own consulting agency. In this episode, we talk about public speaking, management strategies, professorship, AI, and Taylor Swift. We’re SURE you’ll find some sparkle in this episode!

  • 024: Talking Touchdowns, Two-Pointers, and Triple Plays with Adam Clanton

    It all started with a box for a Houston Rockets sweepstakes for kids at an Olive Garden. Be sure to listen to this episode to hear about Adam Clanton’s love for all things Houston Sports and how he got into sports talk radio. You’ll also learn plenty about how the internet and social media have changed sports media in big ways over the years.

  • 023: Marveling at Client Account Management from Mexico City with Nayeli Cano (Office Hours)

    Nayeli Cano is a client account manager at Optidge. Listen to today’s episode to learn all about her path to becoming an account manager and the power of organization, time management, and communication skills in this role.

  • 022: Hard Work in SEO Opened Doors to Open Houses with Fay Friedman

    Starting her career as an SEO copywriter in the wild west days of internet marketing, Fay Friedman has worked diligently and now finds herself as the CMO at a commercial real estate firm bringing the rental world into the modern marketing era. In this episode, you’ll learn how a university degree isn’t the only path into marketing, how self-motivation, learning, and teamwork are keys to success, and how SEO in e-commerce influences the world of apartment rentals. 

  • 021: Hitting a Home Run in Niche Digital Advertising with Yehuda Cagen.

    From playing games and performing commercials about items in the pantry, to his family, to being Senior Marketing Director at Ostendio, Yehuda has always loved advertising and marketing. Learn how he’s learned to always look for the light, find the lighthouse brand offering, and listen to customers' genuine concerns in this episode of The Digital Marketing Mentor.

  • 020: Follow Your Gut to Find Delight in Client Account Management with Taylor McMaster

    If you’ve ever wanted to know what it takes to be a brilliant account manager, this is the episode for you. Taylor McMaster owns and runs DOT & Company, a digital marketing agency turned client account management agency. With her, we discuss the power of experiential learning, mentorship from many individuals, and how to truly delight your clients. 

  • 019: Teaching Gen Z and Millennials How to Fly High as Young Professionals with Jamie Belinne

    After more than 30 years in career services and recruiting, Jamie Belinne finds herself with a wealth of knowledge on how the different generations work, a book helping managers navigate those differences, and many awards and accolades acknowledging her expertise. We discuss how to mentor students and young professionals, why Gen Z is not a generation of narcissists, and why diversity isn’t the norm but will be someday, thanks to the younger generations.

  • 018: The ABC’s of Mentoring and SEO Marketing: Always Be Creative with Batli Joselevitz

    Creative Director, SEO lover, photography enthusiast, and creative wanderer, Batli, is here to discuss how her journey through a journalism degree in college and living on both coasts of the United States led her to the technical SEO realm. Through joining university organizations, mentoring younger students, and learning about internet marketing, Batli’s creativity has always been a driving force. Her focus on the leadership traits of her chosen mentors has helped her learn about how she thrives at being a student of life. We promise you’ll learn plenty from her story on The Digital Marketing Mentor.

  • 017: A Tale of Two Languages, Two Master’s Degrees, and Two Homes with Aurora Losada

    Aurora Losada came to Houston, by way of Columbia University in New York, from Madrid, Spain. She worked many years in journalism and is now Microsoft’s Global Communications Manager for Latin America. With the guidance and support from some fantastic mentors along the way, Aurora has learned much about how to lead and utilize tools like generative AI and ChatGPT. In this episode, you’ll learn so much about how mentorship can drive a brilliant, hard worker like Aurora.

  • 016: Investing in Startups and Mentoring with Daniel Cotlar

    Daniel Cotlar learned early on that he enjoyed the creative, risky, high-energy startup world, and after learning much over his years working at them, now invests and mentors startups. He is passionate about helping others and learning from them. In this episode, he discusses his steps to a successful startup business and mentoring relationships, and some of the stumbling blocks he’s found along the way.

  • 015: Finding a Match in Technical SEO with Chris Long

    Chris Long is the VP of Marketing at Go Fish Digital and has found himself there through a curvy road that began in finance in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. He’s learned a lot about key traits in a mentor, content strategy, and technical SEO along the way. Be sure to listen to this episode to hear how he customizes his strategy in all things, mentorship, technical SEO, and more!

  • 014: Founding Startups, Fractional CMOs, and Facing ChatGPT with Mosheh Poltorak

    Mosheh has done marketing for many startup businesses over the years and has learned a lot from those experiences. He now runs a fractional CMO firm (don’t worry, we define what that means) and is pushing the use of ChatGPT and AI as powerful tools in the marketing world. In this episode, he also tells us his key tactic for a successful mentor relationship.

  • 013: Paid Search Lead Quality: PPC, UTM, CRM, and More with Brianna Deboever (Office Hours)

    Brianna Deboever discusses how marketing can be a great blending of worlds when it comes to being creatively and analytically minded. She and Danny chat about how important it is to track, understand, organize, and share lead quality rather than just quantity when optimizing paid campaigns. Finally, they review how CRMs and UTMs come in very handy to do just those things to bring about a successful, high-quality lead-generating campaign.

  • 012: Bringing Out the Sparkle and Shine in Others and in Diamonds with Brian Gavin

    Brian Gavin is a mentor, renowned jeweler, innovative businessman, and father to The Digital Marketing Mentor. In this episode, you’ll hear about how he grew up in South Africa, took the leap to America with his family and started selling diamonds online, in a time when that was practically unheard of. Be sure to listen in to learn his tips for mentorship and marketing for truly drawing out the sparkle within.

  • 011: The Transition from Agency Owner to Next Generation Leader – A Journey of Mentorship with Allie Danziger

    Allie Danziger joins Danny on the Digital Marketing Mentor to discuss her many mentors, such as her parents, her first boss, and some of her many employees. She also discusses how she transitioned from running one of the state’s most successful digital agencies to training and teaching young professionals the tricks to being effective in the workplace. Be sure to listen in to hear her fantastic book recommendations as well!

  • 010: Music, Mentorship, and Making Content with Glenn Taylor of Skybound Coaching

    Dive into the world of music and professional coaching with Glenn Taylor. Learn how he went from being CMO of the Houston Symphony to coaching individuals and teams on how to be great leaders and foster a culture of feedback. You’ll also hear how impactful and fun organic content creation has been for Glenn and Skybound Coaching, not to mention the many mentors that guided Glenn on his journey.

  • 009: Mandela’s ’94 Presidential Campaign, Smart TV’s, and BMW – A Top Creative Director’s Journey with Louis Gavin

    Louis Gavin has cultivated a respect for creativity and unique approaches to advertising over his illustrious career. Hear how he was an essential element of Nelson Mandela’s presidential campaign in 1994, worked through the transition to digital advertising in the auto industry, and his thoughts on the best way to be a creative director, leader, and mentor on this episode of The Digital Marketing Mentor.

  • 008: Barbershop Quartets, Blinds.com, and Being True to Your Core Values with Jay Steinfeld

    Jay Steinfeld launched Blinds.com, an e-commerce store, in 1996, eventually selling it to Home Depot in 2014. This bold but measured decision would characterize many of his subsequent career decisions. Listen in to hear Jay discuss how he is always learning, being mentored, and mentoring others, every day of his life - and how you should too!

  • 007: Rebounds in Basketball and Business with Marketing Refresh’s Terri Hoffman

    Terri Hoffman is the CEO of Marketing Refresh, a digital agency that specializes in the construction and industrial industries. Follow along and learn about the many ways basketball, leadership, construction, and data audits have all come together to bring Terri through her career in digital marketing today!

  • 006: Mentorship, Media Buying, and Motivation with Cory Henke

    Cory Henke’s path to his current stop, leading his media buying and analytics agency, is anything but a straight line. From convincing his college basketball coach to let him walk on as a novice to being taken into investor meetings by his last boss and CEO, Cory’s learned a lot of things by being unafraid to ask questions, take risks, and be the best at whatever role is needed, especially if that role is ‘Dad.’

  • 005: Applying Linguistics to SEO Content Strategy with Mandy Politi (Office Hours)

    We discuss the purpose, benefits, and process of a solid SEO content writing strategy with Mandy Politi, a Senior SEO Strategist at Optidge. Her career journey began as a child in the Greek education system with a strong focus on written content, continued with a degree in linguistics, and has led to a passionate approach to creating ever-evolving content briefs for writers and valuable content for consumers. Get ready for SEO Content Writing 101 in this episode of the Digital Marketing Mentor.

  • 004: Testing New Strategies and Adjusting in Life and Paid Social with Akvile DeFazio

    Having immigrated to Toronto from Lithuania as a young child and moved multiple times, Akvile is no stranger to adjusting to new situations. She’s taken those life experiences and the skills she learned from her many mentors over her career and turned them into numerous awards and a thriving social media marketing agency. Learn about the path that got her there and how she was gifted a client list to start her agency journey.

  • 003: A Growth Mindset for Marketing, Mentorship, Structured Data in SEO with Martha Van Berkel

    Martha Van Berkel has never backed down from a challenge and wouldn’t know how to hit the brakes on a hairpin turn on a go-kart track. She is always wanting to move faster, solve clients’ problems better, add more value, and think bigger. This is why she created Schema App. Learn more about structured data and how her mentors helped guide her there as we dive deep into being open to feedback and opportunities with Martha.

  • 002: Manually Automated – Optimizing Bidding in Paid Search Campaigns with Rachael Howle (Office Hours)

    Learn the differences between manual and automated bidding in paid search campaigns as we discuss the different strategies to use to optimize your ad spend. Rachael Howle is the Head of Paid Search at Optidge and shares her knowledge and experience with Google Ads.

  • 001: Speaking, Sparking Connections, Star Wars, and (Google) Shopping – Kirk Williams Talks Mentorship and Marketing

    Kirk Williams, Founder and CEO of ZATO Marketing, discusses the benefits of dedicating yourself to learning, sharing your knowledge wisdom, Performance Max, and the Future of Google Shopping.

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